Three of us hiked a big loop around the relatively flat terminal area of the glacier, so did not need to use crampons or ice axes.

If it had rained recently, we would not have tried to access the glacier due to unstable surfaces around the access point and potentially hazardous slick, icy surfaces.

Glacier day hiking vocabulary primer

That's a whole lotta glacier to explore!

Geology has its own language, and you will need some toothy words to understand this glacier day hiking trip report.

Formations and features of a glacier are outlined below from a lay person's perspective:

Glacier: a long lasting deposit of ice and snow on land which is being pulled by gravity so it flows (slowly)

Glacier terminus/nose: where the ice ends

Terminal moraine: a pile of rocky rubble which marks the furthest point the glacier achieved

End moraine: similar idea, but marking the recent retreat(s) of the glacier

Lateral moraine: piles of rocky loose rubble on the sides of the glacier; may be used to access the glacier itself

Crevasse: a deep open crack on the surface of the glacier caused by tension (pulling apart forces); easy to see in summer conditions; to be scrupulously avoided

Moulin: a crack running in the upslope/downslope direction with respect to the surface of the glacier; when water flows into these cracks you'll hear a loud, exciting roar

Glacial lakes and streams: melting water has to go somewhere!

Blue ice: a rich blue color because water molecules are reflecting visible light's blue wavelengths to your eyes and all of the air bubbles have been squeezed out beneath immense pressure from the ice layers

Rock flour: pulverized rock from the glacier in surface water, giving it a milky appearance and a wide range of blue hues

Just for the record, the Nizina Glacier is a temperate glacier, with frozen and liquid water during warm summer months.

The Malaspina Glacier, which can be accessed elsewhere in the park, is a piedmont glacier: it terminates at the ocean.

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